Materials and their vapour permeability characteristics

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For materials characterisation laboratories & engineering facilities Versaperm has introduced a range of specialist and general purpose vapour permeability measurement systems that work not just with any flat material samples but also with fully finished components and assemblies. Additionally it works across all non-regulated gases.

Vapour permeability problems are extremely widespread and cost the UK several billion pounds every year. They range from ruined food to rust, from pharmaceuticals to plastics and paper and from electronics to just about everything else.

A material's permeability controls a huge number of safety-critical and everyday characteristics. These include shelf-life and printability, strength, non-leakage of hydrocarbons or medical gasses, the potency of drugs, the breathability of fabrics and the uses of concrete, asphalt, paint and coatings etc.

The Versaperm equipment can control a wide range of parameters including temperature, pressure, partial pressure and humidity.

Sensitivity and accuracy both depend on each specific vapour and material but are typically in the PPM (Parts Per Million) range, with PPB (Parts Per Billion) for some materials. Results are precise and highly repeatable.

The equipment can measure several samples at the same time and provides a simple to use automated control panel with a large touch-screen interface. The equipment needs very little re-calibration and requires, at most, minimal training.

As well as designing, manufacturing and supplying the equipment to laboratories, including standards laboratories around the world, Versaperm also offers laboratory testing service and consultancy services.